While the quality of a film is undoubtedly important, its success can largely be attributed to the level of attention it receives. With thorough research and strategic commitments, a filmmaker’s project can maximize its audience potential… and there are many ways to catch someone’s eye. A film’s marketing plan could differ depending on its size and budget, but to keep things concise, we will look at strategies which indie filmmakers could use to make a marketing plan and take their film from a home office to a wide audience.
First things first, let’s look at the types of marketing. Paid media refers to advertising which is achieved through a transaction. This could range from ads on social media apps, renting billboards for a certain amount of time, or earning a TV spot on a specified television channel or program. Now, indie filmmakers likely don’t have the budget for this kind of marketing, but it’s important to know. Earned media is content created through word of mouth and external sources. These could be articles, video reactions, social posts, etc. This is what indie films rely on the most.
Generating buzz around your project and getting people to talk about with others. Film festivals help with this a lot. The organizations attract audiences to their event by promoting your work. Owned media is when a studio has a marketing branch which they can use to promote their film. The marketing branch will work closely with the production to set up BTS and promotional content. Again, outside your budget, I know.
Now that we know the different types of marketing, we need to know our audience. Demographic research helps identify which specific groups of people that would be most likely to be interested in your film. The targeted audience is the core group of people who would go see the film. The secondary audience are the people who would see the film but aren’t as motivated. And the tertiary audience are the people who are least interested, but if the movie garners enough attention and success, they may be interested.
To find your film’s audience groups, you need to research the market. There’s a saying that “what targets everyone, hits no one”. If your target audience is too broad, your product won’t be able to connect with anyone. You can target specific age groups, genders, or even use what’s called psychographic research, where you target an audience based on lifestyle, politics, income or other individual elements. Using elements of your film will help narrow down your search for an audience. For example, maybe your film is in the romance genre and features a female lead character. Research will tell you that your target audience becomes females above the ages of 25 years old. Those are the people most likely to go watch your film. Maybe your film falls under the kid’s animation genre. Now your target audience becomes young families with children, and your secondary audience could be couples who are looking for a date night.
Most indie projects are made originally, so they don’t have the advantage of already knowing their target audience through previous products, such as franchises or material being adapted into a film. And your audience could be completely different from what you expected. There’s no guarantee of who will connect to it and who won’t. But hitting the people who are most likely to be interested will give you the highest chance of success.
Once you’ve done your research and determined the audience you want to target, it’s time to start reaching out to them. As mentioned before, independent filmmaking relies heavily on word of mouth and third-party sources generating interest when there’s no budget for advertising. A positive about social media for this is that you have a global reach with a variety of apps. Each of them is better at certain things and within them have their own demographics of users. Instagram is best for visuals and pictures. TikTok is the place to target trends and try to go viral. Both apps have a large range of users between the ages of 16 – 24.
Facebook does well with posting longer videos, finding groups, and has a broader age range of users, with a significant portion between 25 – 34. Also, there are other factors to consider, like key wording in your posts, hashtags, and who follows you on each platform. Your target audience will point you in the right direction where you will commit most of your resources.
So now you’ve narrowed down your target audience and identified how to reach them. But what materials do you have to share? Trailers are great for gathering interest and emphasizing the hook of your film. Key art like posters and film stills are great for encapsulating the story and grabbing the attention of users. Content such as BTS, interviews, and clips of the film can make them want to see the whole thing. The goal here is to stop the users from scrolling and put their attention on your work.
Put together a marketing package full of content and material that you want to share. Ideally, you’d want to post it everywhere you can and reach as many people as possible, but other platforms will perform better than others based on the content you’re sharing and the base of users who are using the platforms.
Marketing is the least shared topic about filmmaking, but it can be one of the most important. Now that you know how to find your audience groups and how to reach them, it’s time for you to fill those seats at the theatre.